Greicy Pinto Bellin

This book analyses the relationships between the writers Edgar Allan Poe, Charles Baudelaire and Machado de Assis, showing their impact on representations of literary modernity and literary national identity in the Americas. The central argument is that Machado de Assis parodied Baudelaire by criticizing the French influence on Brazilian literature of his time, as well as emulating Poe by searching for a Pan-American identity in the representation of the urban scene, nationalism, the female figure and the world of work. Pan-Americanism emerges from both Poe's and Machado de Assis's critical reflections on literary national identity in non-hegemonic contexts as a way of deconstructing the idea of literary modernity.

Brazilian writer Machado de Assis is considered one of the greatest contributors to world literature. His work not only pushes the bounds of fiction but spans a crucial period in Brazilian history. In his early years, he set his stories in the New World version of Portugal's rigid traditional social structure. His characters worked out their frivolous romantic concerns with excruciatingly convoluted formality. But a few years later, as Brazil inched toward a republican government and the abolition of slavery, Machado's stories took on depth and dimension. His characters saw more options in life. Their actions reflected less social formality and more psychological complexity. Two of the stories in this collection--novellas, actually, and translated here for the first time--were published during his early, formative period. Three others typify his later, more literary period. Together, they illustrate not only a writer but a nation in transition. In this special bilingual edition, readers can see both sides of this fascinating writer, and those who understand both languages can appreciate the nuances of the translation.